Gin



May 249 l 1,630,005 N. B. HENRY GIN Filed March 3. 1926 Mw# n1 l ByAfro/mins thoroughly, with less damage to the staplek i which the seedcottoniislincontact? and enf bestl results. are attained "with PatentedMay 24, 1927.

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

. .NELSON B. -1 In1a1w,vor ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

env.

.appncafionfnlea March 3, 192s. seri-a1 No. 92,035.

My invention Vhas relation .to that class of machines known as sawcottongins, and in such connection it relates to anew system of rollformation whereby the lint is removed from the seeds by the saws moreand more quickly than hasheretofore been known. j

In the drawings: L I 1 Figure lis a'crosssectional elevation ofgin,showing my improve ments in place;

Figurer2 is` a partial plan `view ofFigure f I @Figure 3 is aperspective view-of a portion ofthe integrator shaft.

Inicotton gins asusually constructed and operated there is a shaftcarrying a multiplicity of spaced `saws,arpart of the peripherygof whichsaws projects severally be` tween ginning ribs, intothe roll box oftheginpwithinpwhich is the roll made up of seed cotton, worked into acylindrical rollby the turning motion imparted :to it/by the saw 'teethcoming through the ribs, with .Atrolll is formed by placing seed cottonwithin the roll box, which cotton, beingin Contact with the moving sawsis turned into cylindrical form, at the same *time thaty thesawteeth-seizefibres oflint, with their vadhering seeds andl drag themto the ginning ribs, through which the lint bresv are carj'V riedbytheengaging teeth and Ythe seeds being Ltoo large to pass between the ribs,are rejected and `fall downward and out of the gin.` It-has been foundby ,f finners that the say) saw cylinders revolving at 400 to 450 R. P.M.4

' and that with this saw cylinder, a roll-of a certain densityproducesxthe best results, in the quality and quantity ofthe .ginnedstaple andthe delinting of each seed; The density "A ofthe rollf'isattained after the roll-is ini-` tially formed,by therelative speed ofthe feed-of seed cotton, theregulation of which is a matter ofskill andjudgment of the ginner in charge of the gins. l .I i

VSucha roll as I have described is and must be denseeno'ugh to preserveits integrity,

i. re.pitscoherence as rll,'in'order thatfthe,

ginning may be carried on continuouslyaand in order thatythe` roll maycontinuously rotate as a whole. kThis necessary density is such that aconsiderable. proportion of .the

. fibres of which the roll is made up are tightly entangled in the bodyof the'roll and, when seized by a saw, many of these fibres are broken,thus to the extent that this occurs,-`

damaging the staple and producing anfin ferior sample. I `haveldiscovered vthat it is possible 'to avoid this fibre breakage, to makethede-` linting of the seeds' much more perfect andv to greatly increasethe productive capacity of Y the gin. In the drawings I have shownan`ordinary type of gin, fitted with my improvements, in which A Tis theroll'; box; a, the end walls of the roll box, B the saw cylinder,

Dlthefginningfribs, E the lint removing ele-4 ment' and F the lint exit.I have shown the tomary to employ a gin roll relatively dense,

in order `that a formation suliiciently stable to turn as a unit mightbehad and, as a coni sequence` the .speed of rotation of the saws hasbeenlimited to from 350 to' 450 R. P;

M., as higher speeds with a .roll of such density,weredestructive of:the staple vand generatedso much friction andheat as to consume powerunduly and ,to be therefore objectionableor dangerous. II have discov-1ered'that by increasing the speedof rotation of the saws to from 700 yto900 R. P. M. and at the same time decreasing the density of the roll to,such a degree that'it lacks density and stability Vsufficient' to turnas a unit, the productivity ofthe gin both in quality and quantity maybe very greatly increased. I achieve this attenuated roll bymeans'of anintegrating shaft, l, carrying projecting fingers,\11, the free endsofwhich are preferably benty in the direction-of rotation of theroll-.,(see Fig.v 1). This integrating shaft or core is mounted inbearings l12 in the end Walls',-a, of the roll box and `lies along thelongitudinal axis of the roll andis capable of turningfreely insaidbearings, being unconnected withjany moving` part of the machine, i.e." not belted or driven in any way. Upon one end of this integratingroll I preferably. provide a; handwheel 13.rk

This high-speed plus soft roll" discovery is so far as I, knowlimitedgin ,its application TEO to air blast gins and is therefore animprovenient upon that type of gin. The brush gin is unadaptcd to thehigh speed gin saws, since with twelve inch saws rotating at (say) 400and having a peripheral speed of 1250 feet per minute, the brush,having, according to common practice in the gin machinery art, aperipheral speed about five or six times that of the saws with which itcooperates, would have a peripheral speed of about 7000 feet per minute.rl`his is about the upward limit of safety in a brush and in itself actsas a limit, with other considerations, upon the rotative speed of thesaw cylinders. 'With the air blast practically any air speed is possibleso that, so far as this factor is concerned, the acceleration of the sawcylinder may be fixed without regard to the stripping of the fibre fromthe sa'vvs. f

The operation is as follow: the high speed saws being rotated seedcotton is fed into the roll box in any desired fashion; usually by a ginfeeding mechanism, properly adjusted. The descending seed cottoncontacts with the fingers 1l and the shaft l is turned carrying the seedcotton around and against the saw cylinder B, by the saws of which lintis seized and carried between the ginning ribs, D, the seeds beingdetached and dropping down and'out of the gin in the customary manner.The seed cotton not taken by the saw cylinder is carried around byfingers ll, until an attenuatedk soft roll is formed about theintegrating shaft l. Such a roll, without the integrator would besubstantially inoperative. It would fail to turn in sections or as awhole and would rope and twist and wherever along its length it failedto turn, ginning would cease and the seed cotton on the inlet side wouldaccumulate and choke the feed. lVith the integrator shaft, so long asthe saw cylinder actuates any part of the length of the roll, the entireroll is rotated, its weight being largely carried by the bearings in theside of the roll box, and any tendency of any saws to cut a kerf in theroll is entirely overcome. Vith this tenuous seed cotton roll,inoperable under the old conditions of ginning lacking coherence ordensity sufficient to form a unitary structure, the integrator 1,combines and supplies the uniting force which gives the soft roll thecharacter and characteristics of a unitary roll, so far as turning isconcerned. while having the charactenand characteristics of a soft roll,so far as ease in abstracting locks and fibres fromthe mass, quickly andwithout break'- age, thus permitting of the employment of a saw'cylinder operating ata speed approximately doubleV that otherwisepracticable, with increased production and decreased fibre breakage.

The soft roll itself is carried substantially` by the shaft l, so thatthe frictional-resistance to turning, by reason of contact with thebottom or ends of the roll box is not great. The consequence is thatthe. saw teeth, plueking at the periphery of the soft roll, meet arelatively small resistance to the abstraction of locks and fibres. Theroll readily yields locks and fibres and rotates under the impulse ofthe saw teeth. The roll being relatively loose and uncondeused, thelocks and fibres are not locked or tightly entangled in the roll mass,but draw out relatively loose and open and in this condition are draggedto and through the ribs, the seeds being stripped out in the process,from the loose fibres with which they are engaged.

The speed of rotation of the compound roll tends to be faster in thecompound roll due to the fact that there is less frictional resistanceto rotation to be overcome, but, due to the fact that the saw teetheasily engage and withdraw locks or libres from the roll, the tractionor driving force is less than it would otherwise be so that thistendency does not work to full effect. The compound roll, however,rotates more rapidly than the ordinary roll heretofore known and drawsin and carries to the saws more seed cotton than the ordinary roll.

It is essential to my new mode of operation that the roll run quitefreely and to this end that it be not restrained unduly. The support ofthe roll by the integrator shaft and the lightness of the soft roll,lnade possible by the use of the integrator shaft, make the new mode ofoperation and roll formation possible and permit the use of the highspeed saw cylinder, with its increased quantity and. quality production.

The use of the integrator' l, with its hand wheel is also useful in anygin in running out the last remains of a roll and ginning completelywhatever may be in the roll box, which is not as gins have beenheretofore operated. accomplished. ln-operating the hard roll there is,occasionally, from one cause or another of an accidental or irregularnature, a roll stoppage. l-leretofore, the ginner has been in the habitof lifting the roll box and dropping it, throwing the stalled rollsuddenly against the saw cylinder, a process known among ginners asbumping and obviously racking the machine. lith the core shaft and handwheel this is as uunecessary as it is obviously undesirable, as the rollmay be turned to a new position to start it The hand wheel is especiallyuseful in the initial formation of a rolL the integrator shaft l withits projection fingers l1, Ybeing turned byhand until a soft roll isformed, which thereafter is actuated by the saws.

I claim:

l. Tn a gin, in combination, a roll box;

a saw cylinder and ginning ribs, all as usual; bearings in the end Wallsof the roll box; an integrator shaft having projecting fingers and endbearing-pivots, projecting into and closely fitting the end Wallbearings and supported by the bearings for rotation in a fixed axialline alongw the length of the roll box, without contact of the roll withthe roll box.

2. In a gin, in combination, a roll box; ginning ribs Within the rollbox; a high speed saw cylinder rotating at more than 650 R. P, M. andcooperating with the ginning ribs and the seed cotton mass; an air blastlint removing means; bearings 1n the end Walls of the roll box ;`anintegrator shaft 15 having projecting fingers `and end bearingpivotsprojecting into and closely fitting the end wall bearings and supportedby the bearings for rotation in a. fixed axial line along the length oitthe roll box, Without 20

